


ink & roses

by marishka



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-03-25 15:13:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3815116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marishka/pseuds/marishka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Himchan and Daehyun run a tattoo parlor, Yongguk pays Youngjae and Zelo to sort flowers with him, and Jongup's stuck in the middle, making coffee for everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> apparently I think that having more than one au going at once will make me write more haaa, so have the start of a florist/tattoo artist au.

“If you’re gonna go flirt your way to free coffee again, get me a scone.” 

Making a face as he pressed his back into the door to open it, Himchan oh-so-graciously replied with a middle finger.

“First of all, I don’t _flirt_ my way to free coffee. I’m just exceedingly friendly and am often times rewarded for my charm and stunning good looks.” He ignored Daehyun’s obnoxious snort, continuing a little louder over it. “And second of all, get your own damn scone you bottomless pit. You’ve already had like ten breakfast tacos since you got here.”

“It was five and I have _needs_!” Daehyun called after a laughing Himchan, before the door swung shut again, leaving him to grin over at the neat—he would insist it was neat to his dying day, regardless of what anyone else had to say about the matter—pile of wrappers left over from his morning snacking. Himchan didn’t need to know that he’d had two more on the way to work, really.  

* * *

Sliding his way through the front door of his favorite—and closest, it was literally two doors over from his parlor—coffee shop and breathing in the deep scent of roasting beans, Himchan practically hummed as he headed toward the counter, his best smile already in place. 

“Guppie~ I need your help!” There was a tangible pout in his tone, and the boy behind the counter—reason number two for this being Himchan’s favorite coffee shop—looked up with terribly endearing _genuine_ worry. “I need my fix, or my day is bust.” He continued, soothing the beginnings of the barista’s concern as he draped himself against the upper counter with all the drama he could muster up before his mandatory second cup of coffee this morning.

“Okay, Himchan-ssi..” Jongup said, already starting on the iced Americano he knew Himchan wanted, flashing him one of those bright smiles that Himchan swore flowers could live off.

“I told you already, Guppie, just call me hyung.” Himchan teased, resting his chin in his palm and giving his own grin right back.

“Isn’t it a little early for shameless flirting, _hyung_.”

The familiar voice was enough to make Himchan’s smile drop and his eyes roll before he even turned around. Ah yes, Yoo Youngjae, the snarky bane of his existence..

Sure enough, once Himchan bothered to actually straighten up and look, there he was, standing behind him and looking irritatingly pleased with himself.

“Shouldn’t you be blowing a professor for your A or something?”

“Crude as ever, hyung. But unlike you, I don’t need to suck my way to a college degree.”

This was already too much for Himchan to bother with this early in the day—and more importantly, before his second cup of coffee—so he settled for a sneer and the ever popular middle finger before turning his attention back to Jongup. Who was ready for him with coffee and a bright smile. Perfect.

“Here you go, Himchan-ssi.”

With another pout in place and his fingers happily wrapped around his cup, Himchan all but whined, but in a cute way, mind you. “Call me hyung, Guppie~”

He was rewarded with the cutest shy laugh as the barista ducked behind the machinery again, presumably to get to work on Youngjae’s order.

“Ah, one day I’ll get my way..” Himchan sighed heavily, but still flashed a smile when he saw Jongup peeking over at him, slipping a couple bills into the tip jar instead of his tab and sending Jongup a wink, only to have the boy duck down further with what could almost be a blush.

“One day you’ll get out of my way..” Youngjae echoed, and once again Himchan’s smile dropped as he turned on his heel to look at the other over a slow sip of his coffee.

Of course, now he _had_ to give the kid a little extra grief, specifically by leaning back against the counter and remaining quite comfortably planted in place. And more importantly, in Youngjae’s way.

“Maybe if you hold your breath and wish real hard.” Himchan suggested with a grin around his straw.

“Maybe if I dump Yongguk hyung’s hot coffee on your head.” Youngjae replied, going from deadpan to a sugary smile to mock Himchan’s own. Managing to squeeze himself into what little counter space remained free, he pulled one of the three cups Jongup had set there for him closer, the threat clear in his look.

Not too keen on getting his clothes stained and his skin scorched—he wouldn’t put it past Youngjae to actually make good on his threat—Himchan shrugged and moved away with all the casualness he had the energy for.

“Isn’t it a little early for shameless violence?” Receiving nothing more than a huff in return, Himchan counted his victory and made a point of giving Jongup a wave before letting himself out of the shop and back down to his own workplace.

“Where’s my scone?”

Half a step past the door and Daehyun was already on his ass. Typical.

“Sorry, you’re gonna have to score your own free food.” Himchan said around another sip of his coffee, moving around the front counter to check his schedule for the day with Daehyun’s groaning and whining as sweet, satisfying background music. 

* * *

“The coffee god has returned.. come get your shit or I’m drinking it all myself.”

Cardboard cup holder in hand and the crumbs of the muffin he’d gotten himself cleaned off his mouth, Youngjae scanned the shop and spotted Zelo’s dyed mop looking over the row of daisies to his left. He was bright pink and curly today, only a slight change from the platinum blond and messy it was last week.

“Can you at least pretend to try not to curse around Zelo?”

The deep bass to his right clued Youngjae in to his boss’s location and he turned enough to see Yongguk coming around the edge of the mulleins on his right, a bag of soil hoisted up over one shoulder.

“I could, but I wouldn’t want to be dishonest with you, hyung.” Youngjae said with a grin, passing over Zelo’s chai latte as the lanky boy approached. “Besides, he probably knows more curse words than you and I combined. Kids these days and all that.” He added with a proud pat to Zelo’s shoulder.

Yongguk just sighed, defeat already written on his face as he set the bag down and took the hot coffee Youngjae held out to him. They all knew arguing with Youngjae was a very time consuming and often fruitless endeavor, and happily for Youngjae, few bothered to take on the challenge, usually.

“Instead of trying to scold me—unsuccessfully, I might add—over the inevitable, you should be thanking me for having the self restraint not to dump your coffee on that asshole at the cafe.” Youngjae continued, tossing the holder and leaving his own drink on the counter while he pulled his apron on. He took the time to tie bows into it, as usual, while Yongguk shook his head and Zelo laughed, as usual, because he insisted that it was the only way to present himself. That is, as a _present_.

“Aren’t you tired of picking fights with that guy every morning, hyung?” Zelo asked in between sips, going from savoring the taste to watching Youngjae and back again.

“Tired and sick and then some, yes. But he keeps showing up and giving me grief no matter how hard I hope he falls through the earth on his way to the cafe one of these days..”

“Youngjae...” Yongguk was using his warning voice, the one that said to be nice and not wish harm upon others. Because Yongguk was one of those big hearted people who didn’t want bad things to happen to good people—which didn’t even matter because Kim Himchan was _so_ not a good person.

Zelo, on the other hand, found the whole thing hilarious, and proceeded to snort and giggle into his drink, really selling his ‘I’m actually twelve’ image. But at least he was laughing, so Youngjae counted that in his favor.

“You’d agree if you met him, hyung, trust me.” Youngjae reassured after a sip of his double chocolate cream frappuccino (with extra chocolate), moving back around the counter to start his shift off with some inventory work.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Yongguk replied with an almost amused grin, setting his own cup out of the way under the counter.

“Fine, _you_ go get the drinks next time, then you can see for yourself. And I’ll wait here for you to come running back and apologize for ever doubting me.” Yongguk only laughed at that, but Youngjae decided he would insist next time and properly drive his point home once and for all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally a new chapter, kinda made you guys wait a bit, my bad.. but I hope you enjoy!

True to his word, the next morning Youngjae had demanded, politely, that Yongguk be the one to cover their morning coffee run. But as it had a habit of doing, the universe decided that what Youngjae wanted didn't matter.

"I can't go, I've got a call with the city about the shop's land rights."

"But _hyung_ —" Youngjae always thought his particular brand of insistence to be very effective, however, Yongguk's loyalty to his work was proving to be rather tough to beat. He guessed it had something to do with how much time and work and money the other had put into his shop and how determined he was to keep it going. Or something.

"But nothing. Unless _you_ want to deal with this bullshit.."

Watching Yongguk motion down at the paperwork spread under his arm on the only desk space that wasn't covered in some amount of soil, Youngjae took a moment to weigh his options. On the one hand, dealing with dull city officials and pages of contract talk and billing terms and effort and _ew_ , but on the other hand, Kim Himchan.

It was the hardest choice of his week, honestly. 

* * *

Youngjae's sulking and complaining after his defeated retreat from Yongguk's office—it was less of an office and more of a glorified broom closet with a wobbly desk shoved in against the back wall and stacks of necessary paperwork tucked into all the corners—was exactly why Zelo ended up in line at the cafe, reading over the menu repeatedly while waiting for his turn. Apparently, it was very important that _someone_ agreed with him that this Himchan guy was a plague upon the world, and that he was _not_ overreacting. And with Yongguk tied up with the legal details of shop ownership, the task was passed to him.

It wasn't all bad, really, and only partially because he was convinced that Youngjae was, in fact, completely overreacting, and it'd be funny to tell him as much and see him balk. But the cafe was nice enough, cozy and comfortable and filled with the smell of roasting coffee beans and music that was just quiet enough to be easily ignored if you wanted but still audible enough to enjoy and groove to. Which was exactly what Zelo did, freshly dyed magenta curls bouncing as he did, waiting for his turn and oblivious to the glances the boy behind the counter continued to sneak toward him.

One song change and a minute later Zelo finally reached the front of the line, mild nerves putting an awkward smile on his face as he blinked up at the menu again.

"Uhh.."

Apparently, one song change and a minute was enough time for him to forget what it was he was here to get.

While Zelo drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter and scanned the board for familiar drink names, Jongup waited patiently, taking the chance to fully admire the other's vibrant hair, subconsciously reaching up to mess with his own plain chocolate strands. He'd always liked the idea of cool hair colors...

"Um.. oh, I'd like.. one chai latte, a.. large black coffee, and.."

Struggling to remember all the details of the sugary hell Youngjae called his favorite drink, Zelo promptly decided it was unnecessarily complicated.

"A.. double cream, chocolate.. frappuccino with extra... sprinkles, or something."

Defeat evident before he ever reached the end of his sentence, Zelo shook his head and considered writing it down, next time. If there’d be a next time. Youngjae seemed to be much better at this whole coffee run business.

"Extra sprinkles, coming right up."

Exchanging grins with the barista—at least he seemed to find the awkward mess of an order funny—Zelo relaxed a little, tuning back into the background music for another little bob in place as he waited. Despite having taken several looks around, he'd yet to see anyone who fit the description Youngjae had given him, if you could consider it a description at all.

 _"Smug, messy, tattoos out the ass, and looking like he's hot shit when really he's just a shit.” Youngjae said with a disdainful shake of his head. "Oh and he's kind of tall, I guess.. but not really.. well, he won't be to_ you _in any case. But it doesn't matter. You'll know him because he's got a face that makes you wanna punch it."_

"Thanks, hyung.. _so_ helpful." Zelo muttered under his breath, turning back to the counter to see the third cup sliding across toward him and the barista giving him another bright smile. Returning it, Zelo slipped the cup into the holder with the rest and nodded in thanks.

With a couple more polite smiles exchanged and his order paid for, he wandered back out onto the street, and even took the time to look around out there, but with no Himchan in sight, Zelo headed back to the shop. Or at least he started to, but three steps and a sip of his drink later he paused, blinking at the messy words scrawled onto the side of his cup.

_'Your hair's really cool.'_

Looking back at the cafe, Zelo shuffled—moonwalked, really—backwards to look through the glass panes that lined the front of it, spotting the barista looking at him with an almost embarrassed grin. Once again, he couldn't help but smile back, face flushed just a little redder as he offered the ever popular thumbs up in what he hoped would somehow translate into a 'thanks,' before hurrying off with a laugh and a grin that would stick with him all day. 

* * *

Needless to say, Youngjae was _not_ pleased.

From the butchered version of his precious drink that Zelo had handed him the previous morning—sprinkles? _Seriously?_  He didn't even know they _had_ sprinkles—to the news that there had been no sight of Satan's Spawn at the shop to give Zelo grief and prove Youngjae right, it had just _not_ been his day. But let it never be said that Yoo Youngjae gave up easily, because he didn't. And he wasn't. Giving up, that is.

Having accepted the technical defeat of Zelo's failure, Youngjae was right back to nagging Yongguk the following morning. He'd even come in extra early to do it, and to sweeten the deal, as it were.

"It's really a win for you, hyung." Youngjae insisted, making a show of wiping down the table with a sweet smile that radiated innocence. And which Yongguk knew better than to trust—and he was a very trusting man. "I'll stay here, in your place, and take the _best_ care of your precious shop. Tidy up a little and everything, and all _you_ have to do is take one tiny little quick short walk to the cafe and get yourself something nice. Anything at all."

He wasn't even asking Yongguk to get _him_ a drink, too. Clearly he was a saint, it wasn't his fault no one else noticed.

"Uh huh."

Not about to be deterred by Yongguk's lack of enthusiasm, Youngjae held strong, even going so far as to pretend to polish one of the ceramic pots beside him. A pointless endeavor, really, but he had to be getting bonus points for effort and his smile, right? Right.

"Nothing could be easier, hyung. Just consider it a little morning break, because we both know how hard you work. You deserve it, _really_."

He was laying it on thick, and there was only so much Yongguk could take, so he gave in for the sake of peace and nothing else, breathing out a heavy 'fine' that had Youngjae cheering and bouncing in place within seconds. 

* * *

"Are you trying to say that I'm not pretty enough to get free coffee? Because if you are, I'm done here, I won't try to reason with someone who's _clearly_ insane. And blind. _And_ stupid."

Daehyun was genuinely offended now, and only _mostly_ because Himchan had stolen one of his precious breakfast tacos this morning.

"What I'm saying is you know that I'm right and that's why you're making such a fuss instead of just proving it." Himchan said with an all too smug laugh, and now Daehyun really _had_ had enough.

"Fine! You want proof? I'll give you proof. I'll give you so much proof you'll choke on it. And then I'll laugh, because you deserve it."

Another raspy laugh was all he got in reply, but Daehyun didn't care, just used it to fuel his determination.

"Sure. Just leave your wallet, I don't want you cheating."

As if the initial insult wasn't enough, now this? Himchan was really asking for it today. But Daehyun conceded, if only because it would make his inevitable victory that much sweeter, slamming his wallet down on the table with a glare and stalking right out of the shop and toward the cafe. 

* * *

Much like Zelo the morning before, Yongguk didn't put much faith into Youngjae's.. colorful description of who he was supposed to see at the cafe. Instead, he picked out the least offensive adjectives and worked together a general mental image: black hair, tattoos, casually punk style, cocky disposition. It was enough to go off, he figured, especially when the coffee shop wasn't terribly busy, only a handful of other customers lined up by the time he got there.

And only one of them was sporting any number of tattoos, let alone an "asston" of them, as Youngjae had insisted.

Stepping up to wait for his turn and taking a very quick and casual look over the stranger in front of him, Yongguk took a few minutes to wrestle with whether or not this guy was the infamous—by Youngjae's standards only, really—Kim Himchan. He definitely had the tattoos part covered, with ink spread over both arms and several fingers, as well as creeping up from under his collar, and he certainly looked punk enough, what with the numerous piercings in each ear, and worn edges in the tears of his otherwise pristine clothes. So the guy fit the bill, up to the hair. Which was not the expected jet black, but instead a meticulously maintained pale shade of ashy blond.

But he wasn't about to rule the guy out based on hair color alone. Yongguk was very familiar with the speed and frequency with which one could change their hair, Zelo was proof enough of that, so maybe this _was_ Himchan, and he'd just gone in for a bleaching. This internal struggle was why Yongguk kept staring, up until the man in question turned with drinks in hand and caught him looking, and they shared a few beats of awkward silence.

"Enjoying the view?" The blond finally said with the friendly and amused grin of someone who was thoroughly used to being stared at, whether it was for his inked skin or his good looks.

Yongguk cleared his throat and gave a dismissive shake of his head, an embarrassed, almost shy grin breaking over his own face.

"Sorry, uh.. you look like... someone I.. know." Youngguk managed.

"Lucky you, then." Was the stranger's reply, along with a laugh that seemed almost as embarrassed as Yongguk felt, at least under all that puffed up confidence. A bit of shyness under his image was something Yongguk could sympathize with.. "Have a good one."

Nodding to the stranger as he passed by to leave, Yongguk spared another glance after him. He was definitely on the cocky side, but just barely, hardly at the levels Youngjae had sworn up and down Himchan carried himself with.. Couldn't have been him. That settled, Yongguk turned his attention to the barista and matched the boy's friendly greeting smile with a gummy one of his own as he tried to remember what he was supposed to order. 

* * *

"So, did you get thrown out for begging for free coffee?"

He'd barely made it through the door and Himchan was already being an insufferable little shit. Daehyun didn't know why he was surprised.

" _No_."

"Oh? Who'd you steal from, then?"

Dropping down onto one of the plush sofas they had lined up against a few of the walls, Daehyun gave a long suffering sigh and draped an arm over his eyes. He hated having to admit any of this, but he wasn't going to outright _lie_ , and live through the embarrassment of having Himchan go right down to the shop and find out the truth. Because he would.. the bastard.

"I put it on your tab.." He mumbled, and grimaced at the tone Himchan immediately adopted. He was so damn pleased with himself. _The bastard_.

"What was that? You _failed?_ "

"I couldn't help it! The guy behind me was staring hard enough as it was.. if I put on a show, his eyes might've popped out of his head." So, really, it wasn't even his fault. He could've won the barista over if he hadn't had an audience, it was just bad luck, really..

"Making up excuses, color me surprised."

"I'm gonna color you bloody in a second if you don't cram it!"

"Think you’re forgetting a ' _hyung_ ' somewhere in there, punk."

"My bad, I meant, if you don't cram it, _hyung_."

Himchan's reply was a balled up wrapper aimed at Daehyun's head, and that was enough to get them both laughing, and more importantly off the topic of his spectacular failure. Or so he hoped.

A hope that was promptly dashed.

"You owe me for that coffee."

 _Damn_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's this? an almost reasonably timed update? call the press. hah. hope you guys enjoy~

One would have thought that with the frequency of his running into Kim Himchan any time  _he_ went on their morning coffee run, getting Yongguk or Zelo to come across that tatted up prick would've been a very relaxed and casual walk in the park, so to speak. But after two separate failures and a whole lot more frustration than he was prepared to deal with the weeks before finals, Youngjae was well past the end of his patience rope. So he had, for the time being, abandoned his hopes for sharing the displeasure of knowing Himchan with the others and instead turned his hopes to getting in and out of the cafe without coming across the guy himself. He was also hoping they would have some of those oversized muffins loaded with cream and chocolate that he could drown his annoyances in.

All in all, things were looking promising for Youngjae that morning, as he had yet to catch sight of any ridiculous tattoos or dumb spiky hair, and there were still two of those muffins left and only one person in line in front of him. He was well on his way to a near perfect day at this rate, so he kept his fingers crossed and waited.

The barista greeted him with a genuinely bright smile—Youngjae had yet to figure out how anyone could smile that bright this early, but he suspected some kind of black magic was definitely at play—a few minutes later and just like that  _both_  of those sinfully chocolatey muffins were his. Youngjae was practically on his way to almost a full smile by the time his drink was slid over toward him and he happily wrapped his hands around it, soaking in the warmth and breathing in the sweet,  _sweet_ scent of a good day to come.

And there was still no Himchan in sight.. he was truly blessed today. _  
_

With the last of his order gathered in front of him, half of one muffin already inside of him, and everything paid for, Youngjae managed something sort of close to a smile toward his barista-slash-cashier-slash-owner?—he never really saw anyone else working here, although this kid didn't look like he was up for the task of running his own business somehow—and turned to make his victorious escape. Or he tried to. What happened instead was he ran dead smack into someone else and proceeded to soak said someone in freshly brewed coffee. Freshly brewed  _hot_ coffee, if the screams were anything to go by.

"Oh my god, I am  _so_ sorry, I didn't even notice someone was behind me I just—"

"Are you  _kidding_ me?!"

Youngjae's apologizes died in his throat when he looked up. Of course. Of  _course_ the poor, unfortunate victim of his clumsiness had to be Kim Himchan.

"..Fuck."

"Yeah, no shit, 'fuck!'" Himchan nearly screeched—really, it was more of a pitched and annoyed and _pained_ growl, but Youngjae preferred 'screech' when it came to Himchan—and Youngjae gaped. He might not have been the biggest fan of the guy, more in the field of an arch enemy, really, but he'd never actually had any interest in  _hurting_ him. And hot coffee hurt, he knew that from one too many personal experiences. But here they were now, Himchan dripping and hissing, and Youngjae staring with his mouth open and what might have very well been panic in his eyes.

And then he ran.

So, okay, maybe..  _maybe_ , Youngjae wasn't super amazing at dealing with actual conflict. Maybe he was great with the sarcasm and the snappy comebacks and a pretty casual but very vocal dislike of other people. And maybe he was actually utter shit with facing problems that were real and physical and maybe he was a little bit scared that Himchan might  _actually_ tear his head off for this. So he ran, even though he was like eighty-seven percent sure that was the absolute wrong thing to do. But he panicked and he wasn't thinking clearly, and could you  _really_ blame him for freaking out a little about hurting a guy who _stabbed other people_ for a living?

(Maybe he was also exaggerating a bit, because maybe tattooing didn't actually count as real stabbing. But he definitely wasn't going to take that chance.)

In hindsight, bolting to the flower shop was probably not the best escape strategy, but Youngjae wasn't about let bad ideas deter him, so he rushed inside and tugged his apron on and all but ran to the very back of the shop.

"Gonna do inventory!" He nearly yelled as he ran by, and Zelo stared after him, mouth hanging a little open and a mystified expression on his face.

"Hyung..? What about... the coffee..?" Zelo called after him after a moment of trying to fit together what was wrong with this picture.

"They ran out!" Youngjae yelled back, effectively burying himself behind the furthest rows at the back of the shop. He might have actually ducked under the rows, but Zelo was sure  _that_ was unlikely.

"They ran out of coffee.. at the coffee shop." Zelo was not surprised to find that saying the words out loud back to himself did not, in fact, help them make any more sense. But he didn't get much of a chance to think about it—or to pursue Youngjae and make him explain in words that  _did_ make sense—as the bell above the shop's door rang again and Zelo had to turn back to greet the customer.

"Welcome to Floral Sensibility, how may I.."

The customer who was wearing a scowl and at least two cupfuls of coffee, by the look and smell of it.

"..help... you..?"

"Where is that little twerp?!" The customer actually _growled_ , and Zelo promptly decided that taking a discreet step (or three) back was in his best interests right now.

"Um?"

"Yoo Youngjae I know you're in here!"

Thankfully, the guy wasn't looking at him anymore, scanning the shop instead, and Zelo took that chance to edge just a little further away from the tattooed banshee who apparently wanted to mount Youngjae's head on his wall, or something. Even more thankfully, the yelling—and the yelp he was sure he heard coming from where Youngjae had disappeared behind two minutes earlier—had lured Yongguk out of his cupboard office, and he was quick to put himself between the banshee and everything else.

"Is there a problem?" Yongguk said with a practiced kind of calm, voice quiet but firm and demanding attention, and the banshee— _Himchan_ , probably, Zelo realized, since he looked sort of like what Youngjae had described before and seemed sort of like he wanted to kill Youngjae a little bit—snapped his sharp glare to Yongguk.

"Yes. Your little friend _back there.._ " Himchan's voice rose again briefly and Zelo heard a thud and a muffled curse behind the last row of flowers where Youngjae was hiding. He had to wonder if Youngjae was trying to crawl all the way under the display table at this point.. "Decided to share his coffee with me, so I'm here to share my fist with him."

"I don't think I can condone violence in my shop." His words might have left room for debate, but Yongguk's tone definitely didn't, which was enough to give Himchan pause and focus his gaze back on Yongguk, taking him in again in silence for a few long moments.

"Well." Himchan finally said, looking Yongguk up and down and tilting his chin up just a fraction in what was nearly a challenge. "Someone's gotta pay for this. My dry cleaning doesn't do itself, and coffee stains.. well, that's not cheap. Plus, there's the matter of physical harm."

Yongguk only smiled—though it wasn't the wide gummy grin Zelo was used to seeing from his boss, but instead a reserved and tight smile, forced and polite—and nodded, sparing a glance down over Himchan's soiled clothing.

"Youngjae will pay for it, you have my promise."

With a snort, Himchan crossed his arms over his chest and leveled Yongguk with a stare.

"Promises don't pay bills, babe."

"Bang." Yongguk corrected and, seeing Himchan's slight confusion, continued. "Bang Yongguk."

A smile threatened to surface, tugging at the corners of Himchan's lips as he nodded and let the name sit on his tongue for a moment. "...Bang. Well, _Bbang_ ~ I'm gonna need a little more than that."

If he didn't know better, Zelo could've sworn that Yongguk looked like he might deck the other guy right then and there, but instead, all Yongguk did was give a curt nod and let his eyes wander away from Himchan. He seemed to think for a moment, glancing all the way back to where Youngjae was still hiding, before stepping away from Himchan and over to a neat row of pots. After a minute of careful picking, Yongguk returned to the space in front of Himchan, a long stem lined with nearly white blossoms dusted with pink from one of the potted shrubs, which he held out towards the other.

"On the house, as a sign of good will. And my promise." Yongguk tried again, while Himchan eyed him with mildly unimpressed curiosity, looking like he was trying to figure all of Yongguk out in one long stare before dropping his eyes to the stem instead.

A few more beats of almost tense silence followed before Himchan took the offering, rolling it between his fingers slowly before looking back up at Yongguk. He still looked torn and tempted to shove right past to drag Youngjae out from the back and maybe beat him with the flower, but he seemed to resist that urge for now, at least.

"Your promise,  _his_ generous donation to my dry cleaning tab, and.. you buy me coffee. Tomorrow morning." Himchan finally said, still toying with the long stem in his hand and watching Yongguk like he was just waiting for the other to protest so he could go in for the kill—metaphorically speaking.. Zelo hoped.

Yongguk raised an eyebrow at this proposal, but as he valued his shop and his employees more than a couple bucks worth of coffee and a couple minutes worth of his time, he nodded, a smile that was a little more on the side of natural surfacing. "Deal."

"Deal." Himchan quickly echoed, nodding as well and sparing another glance over Yongguk's shoulder, back to where Youngjae was still hiding. "Lucky for Yoo."

Zelo wasn't sure he could forgive this Himchan fellow for that pun, and it took all of his self control not to roll his eyes and groan, because  _really_. But he held strong and soon enough, Himchan had turned and left with a wave of a inked hand, disappearing down the street. And then hell  _really_ broke loose.

"... _Youngjae_."

Yongguk's growl was far more intimidating than Himchan's, and Zelo quickly darted to a safer distance. Although he'd never seen Yongguk hurt anyone, and was pretty sure his boss was pretty much a pacifist, he didn't think it in his best interest to stick around and see how right he was. Instead, Zelo busied himself with something that kept him nice and far from the other two, but still gave him the chance to glance over and see what went down.

* * *

"What the hell happened to you?"

Only two steps past the door and Daehyun was already practically tittering in his chair while looking Himchan over, and he really,  _really_ didn't have the patience for this..

"That mouthy little shit from the coffee shop spilled his drink on me." Himchan grumbled, heading to the back of the shop to dig out a tall empty glass and filling it up with water, dropping the flower Yongguk had given him as a peace offering into it and setting the whole thing at the back of his station table. It looked pretty, he had to admit, even if he wasn't an avid flower fan, and it reminded him of cheesy confession scenes from dramas he'd watched.

"Looks more like he spilled the entire coffee shop on you." Daehyun snickered behind him, leaning back in his chair and eyeing the flower. "What's with that?"

"A dumb promise from a dumb florist." Was Himchan's reply, and he stared at the flower a moment longer before grabbing his keys and turning to face Daehyun instead. "I'm gonna run home and change, _try_ not to burn the place down while I'm gone."

Naturally, Daehyun looked deeply offended by the suggestion, and proceeded to vocalize said offense with a series of gasps and whines that he probably thought would invite sympathy, but only served to make Himchan roll his eyes harder.

"I would  _never_.. I'd sell the lot and buy myself a feast first. Give me a _little_ credit, hyung!"

"Just make sure I still have a job when I get back!"

With that and a laugh, Himchan left the shop, picking at his slowly drying shirt with distaste. He'd need a change  _and_ a shower, since Youngjae apparently liked his coffee with three tons of sugar.. But for some reason, he didn't feel nearly as pissed off as he had earlier. Instead, he remembered a little gummy smile and the scent of soil and too many flowers, and smiled, just a little, without realizing it.


End file.
